CSR Easter 2013

Wont the northern/top half of the CSR still be VERY wet then???

Hi 4lex,
I did it in September last year and the price of fuel at Kunawaritji was $3.40 per litre, and they had plenty. Just make shore you arrive there when open or you will be there for the night.
As for driving in low range, no need it's not that hard a track. I never used low range the entire track.
Andy

PS as for the wet if it's like the NT at the moment their is no wet season, have had very little rain 150mm in December and 148mm in January and little prospect for rain in next month.

Thanks all. If it's raining when we set off I guess we won't be going, realise we're pushing it at the traditional end of the wet, but then of course that's when it's at its greenest. Hmm.

Good to hear we won't be slogging along in low, I think I should be able to make it across without fuel in the middle in the 80, but the GQ's still going to need a drink. $3.40... that's more than Bamaga!

Sadly haven't got the luxury of a month for the trip. We're out of Perth midday 22/3 and need to be back for work on 8/4, so 17 days all up.

Being realistic, if we pick out what we hope to be highlights for us, from having read others accounts and watched the endless youtubes, can we expect to make a 50km/h average driving, so spend 5hrs travelling and 5hrs of daylight left for exploring/seeing the sights?

Cheers,
Alex

This year will be my 9th Canning trip.

I work on 99 kilometres per day for my tour convoy. Off course we can do 200 k days but thats a silly thing to attempt on the Canning. If you don't count the rest days at Durba etc we are doing about 80 k per day.

Not doing the more difficult dunes in low range means you will most likely be bouncing and causing scalloping of the dunes. However the long runs between the dunes require high range especially in Toyotas, though the Nissans can sometimes stay in low range if you don't mind doing 50 kph in low range.

I encourage people to attempt to take the dunes as slowly and as smoothly as you can, in fact I can drive up almost all of them in first gear low range if my tyres are at the right pressure. If you can't then you pressures are probably too high. Of course having lower pressures mean you have to go slower between the dunes, I max out at 50 kph with my pressures 50% of on road.

I've been pleasantly surprised at the comments of other convoys at how well our convoy treats the dunes, in fact one guy said "congratulations mate you leave the dunes in better shape than when you got to them"

The moral of the story, allow lots and lots of time, go slow - you will probably only get to see it once, why not take a good long slow look! Besides my personal observations include (in other convoys) 3 broken chassis, about 30 busted springs and an equal number of busted shook absorbers, 2 lower control arms and several fuel tanks falling out- they all drove fast.

Adding the Kimberley to this schedule would not be a good idea. In my opinion, your time allocated to the CSR is already too short to appreciate it, and carries with it a high risk of vehicle damage and breakdown.

At least 21 days is required to see the highlights of the Kimberly region- I once was asked to do a tour for 14 days and found it a challenge to have my clients see even the best spots due to the distances between them and the road conditions- take the distance and road conditions from El Questro to Mitchell Falls and back, and you will see what I mean.